Silly Season Arriving Early This Year

Probably due to "climate change"

Really, the news recently that isn’t depressing is just stupid.

First there was the whole women and bears thing, which for those of you just joining is where some survey asked women if they would rather be alone in a forest with a man or a bear and most of the respondents chose bear. And not, as far as I can tell for the reasons hinted at in the following image:

Someone somewhere where I saw that (or a similar) image noted that bears fed on berries, honey and salmon are excellent eating but questioned whether bears fed on AWFULs would be quite so tasty - in fact it would probably taste awful.

Then, talking of women and people with large front chests of indeterminate gender, there’s Fatties for a Free Palestine¹ which I thought had to be someone’s clever spoof, but apparently isn’t.

In fact Microsoft’s Copilot AI knows a lot about this group:

Certainly! Let’s discuss the Fatties for a Free Palestine movement. This unique project was initiated by Hannah Moushabeck, an unapologetically fat Palestinian American. She noticed a lack of protest garments specifically designed for larger bodies and decided to create something impactful.

Fatties for a Free Palestine features white tops adorned with slogans in red, green, and black, along with watermelons and three tubby activists shaking their fists. The purpose? To raise awareness about the ongoing “genocide” in Palestine and collect funds for aid in Gaza. Moushabeck emphasizes that anyone criticizing her project in a fatphobic manner should recognize that they are harming a Palestinian American¹.

Interestingly, the movement has garnered attention on social media. On the Free Fatties for Palestine Instagram page, you’ll find photos of participants wearing these unique garments. One image shows a “fattie” wearing a Moushabeck sweatshirt alongside an Aboriginal activist holding a placard that reads “Zio Scum Outta Naarm” (referring to Melbourne). The irony lies in the fact that the term “Zio” was popularized by David Duke, a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and a notorious white supremacist and antisemite¹.

As for fundraising, Fatties for Palestine has managed to raise over $14,000. Some online discussions have playfully speculated about how the money will be used, with comments like “You know that money is staying with the fatties” and “They’ll probably just eat it all.” Others humorously suggest that participants should head to Gaza to lose weight, creating a win-win situation¹.

Interestingly, someone wondered whether the Fatties for Palestine movement would join Princeton students in a hunger strike. It’s a moment when Karl Marx’s words about history repeating itself descend into farce¹.

If you’d like to learn more, you can read about it in detail on The Spectator Australia¹. 😊

One wonders whether they think a Palestine is like a Happy Meal?

Anyway, moving on slightly. We have this

Digging in to it a bit, it turns out it’s actually not an Ivy League edumacation that is responsible for this but one from America’s hat. Maybe it’s a Quebecois spelling? But I’m sure someone at an Ivy League school is wondering why people are laughing.

And, well it’s a bit late, but talking of spelling and HamAss supporters, it turns out that last week protesters at UCLA learned that Karma was spelled “FAFO”

Anyway going back to glowball worming climate change. It always used to be that doomy articles in newspapers would say “women and minorities hardest hit”. Well these days women are problematic so they do this instead²:

Beyond the headline the whole article is full of gems:

In Haiti, after the 2010 earthquake, gay and bisexual men tried to adopt "a more masculine demeanour" to avoid harassment in displacement camps and were turned away from emergency housing and food programmes, said a report by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and Foundation and SEROvie, an HIV NGO. 

and

In some countries, trans communities also struggle to access aid relief as they often don't have legal documentation, due to leaving home at a young age. 

Not to mention:

Countries in the global south are already experiencing some of the worst effects of the extreme weather caused by climate change – and many don't have a positive record on LGBTQ+ rights. 

Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Chad, and Nigeria, all of which criminalise same-sex activity, are among the worst-hit nations. 

Oddly most of these countries (Nigeria being a partial exception) are well know for being primarily of a certain M-word religion. And I don’t mean Mormon.

And of course when you get down to it, what it boils down to is that activists want to get on the climate change gravy train

Activists and organisations have called for LGBTQ+ people to be included in the drafting of climate policy and asked for more research into the impacts of natural disasters and further training to reduce stigma and discrimination in aid operations. 

All of this comes from Reuters

Context is powered by the Thomson Reuters Foundation Newsroom.

Who, possibly unique among journalists, claim to have standards other than the usual double variety

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles

These include the provision of unbiased news. Or so they claim. Which is almost as risible as “Fatties for Palastine”

1. War Day #215. Musing on this and that

2. Do Our Rulers Really Believe What They Say They Believe & What To Do About It